East Lothian Council has approved a planning application for connection works for a proposed £1.3bn wind farm development off the Fife coast.

The plans include 12 kilometres of buried cable as part of the wider onshore infrastructure work needed to connect Mainstream Renewable Power’s proposed Neart na Gaoithe 450 megawatt (MW) offshore wind farm to the main grid.

Plans approved by East Lothian Council are to bury cable between Thorntonloch Beach in East Lothian, where the subsea cable is planned to reach shore, and Crystal Rig onshore wind farm in the Lammermuir Hills, where the grid connection would be made.

The planing consent also includes a new substation to be constructed at Crystal Rig, adjacent to an existing substation.

Developers estimate the 450MW projected output from the wind farm proposal would produce enough power to supply 325,000 homes – equivalent to the number of homes within the city of Edinburgh.

The combined onshore and offshore development is expected will create hundreds of direct and indirect jobs if approved, both during construction and throughout its operation.

David Sweenie, offshore manager for Mainstream Renewable Power in Scotland, said: “This is a major landmark for Neart na Gaoithe, allowing us to work towards ensuring that the onshore connection is ready for when the wind farm starts to generate power.

“The whole project is of major significance for Scotland and will make a strong contribution towards Scotland achieving its 2020 renewable energy targets.

“We can’t wait to get going.”

If the Neart na Gaoithe proposals are approved, for a development 15 kilometres off the coast of Fife, power generation is expected to begin by 2017.

Mainstream Renewable Power recently submitted a revised planning proposal to Marine Scotland reducing the number of turbines proposed for the development from 125 to 90 across the 100 square kilometre offshore site.